Presenting slides is an integral part of many meetings and other events that involve communication. Currently, the standard set-up is to use a laptop computer or meeting room computer to show Microsoft Powerpoint slides or web-based slides in a single video projector.
There are several disadvantages inherent to the standard slide presentation scenario. First, as a presenter progresses through a series of slides, the slide previously displayed on a screen is completely replaced. An audience may not view the previous slide that relates to the slide currently displayed. Second, there is generally no interaction from audience members regarding slide content. Audience members may discuss slides with a presenter, but generally may not add content to a slide as it is being presented.
Some attempts have been made by prior art systems to improve on the traditional slide show. One simple system uses multiple displays to show the same output of a single computer. Current presentation systems typically use a laptop with a video output signal that shows a copy of the laptop's display on a video projector or a large wall display. In the Unix operating system, a display can be set to view a particular workstation that can be located anywhere on the network. More recently, popular technology such as VNC (Virtual Network Computing) and Microsoft Terminal Services Client allow one computer's display and keyboard/mouse input to control another computer.
In other prior art attempts, several displays have been tiled together to create a large high resolution display. An example of this work is disclosed in the Princeton Scalable Display Wall, Li, Kai, et al, “Early experiences and challenges in building and using a scalable display wall system”, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, vol. 20 (4), pp 671-680, 2000. Since the resulting tiled display is intended to behave like a single large display, the spirit of such systems does not provide much improvement over existing systems.
More sophisticated systems allow separate display units to interact with each other. ConnecTables, as disclosed in “ConnecTables: Dynamic coupling of displays for the flexible creation of shared workspaces”, Tandler, P. et al., Proceedings of UIST '01. ACM, New York, supports the dynamic coupling of displays for small tables having a display on top. This work has major limitations in that two tables must be physically moved together in order for them to be coupled. Additionally, only two displays can be connected at a time, and they must be connected in a front-edge-to-front-edge configuration. The two displays can either form a single surface or remain as two separate surfaces. When connected, the two users can work on computer applications and share data.
Prior art systems have improved over the standard slide presentation methods, but there is still a need for an improved presentation system. What is needed is a media presentation system that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.